The grip levels are so high that realistically, on the road, you're only ever going to get near the limit through the tightest turns

So there is more punch from the engine - 444bhp, a 15bhp gain. And for the first time, the 44mm-wider rear body is accompanied by a 26mm extension to the front. There are many other detailed changes, which we’ll come to later.

As always when driving a GT3 RS, it's difficult to concentrate on anything else. Not because it is especially demanding, in many ways it is a surprisingly easy car to drive, but because it is so all-consuming.

There is the noise, a wonderful mixture of mechanical whirs and induction gasps. Next to the GT3, not only do you hear more (because of that rear window), but also the sound is different. The RS gets a titanium exhaust (lighter and with different resonant properties), and uses a single-mass flywheel (also lighter). Together they produce a more irregular, unsettled idle, and a faster throttle response.

Does it steer and more sweetly than the regular GT3? Without driving the two back-to-back on the same road it is difficult to be categorical, but from where I’m sitting today I’d say so. There’s just a fraction more feel and confidence and feel on turn-in, especially through the faster stuff.

At 1370kg, the RS saves 25kg over the GT3. Why not more? Because the weight-saving measures have to first clawback the mass added by the extra bodywork and wider wheels; the RS runs an extra 10mm on the front and 20mm on the rear.

For the truly committed, doing away with the bi-xenon headlamps saves a further 6kg, while an optional lithium-ion battery sheds 10kg.

So on the occasions when it’s possible to use everything the 3.8-litre motorsport engine has to offer, does 15bhp make a difference? On paper the RS is more accelerative than the GT3, but only fractionally (there’s just 0.1sec in it from rest to 100mph).

In reality you’d be hard pushed to tell the two apart in pure performance, but in character they perform slightly differently. The extra power comes not as a result of changes to the engine internals, but a more efficient induction kit and higher compression ratio.

The grip levels are so high that realistically, on the road, you’re only ever going to get near the limit through the tightest turns. But do so, and contary to what you might expect, the RS proves easier to manage than the regular car.